FINDING PURPOSE IN LIFE

                Death is a fascinating subject matter. Admittedly, it can be quite a daunting, confusing and at times scary thought to think of death but it is inevitable – we all die, regardless of our belief in the after-life. Life, which in many terms is the opposite of death, now becomes the most important thing to understand while we have it. To have a purpose-filled life; a purposeful existence, becomes the main thing for many. One question remains, is it not simpler to just live?

                Whether you fulfill your dreams or not, whether you climb mountain Fiji or Kilimanjaro, whether you go hunting or buy your meat from the supermarket, whether you are racist, an anarchist or loving, you still get the same life, the same breath. If one thing has been proven over time, it is that Life belongs to all and should be a basic human right. So why are people so obsessed with finding their purpose? Is there really such a thing? Now before you jump to your instinctive human response, think this through, some people die prematurely (in our opinion), others stay poor their whole lives, others find a way to live that is very different from everyone else and yet, we still find people obsessed with looking for something that maybe they already have.

                We know that life is life and people live and then die. We also know that no one can accurately predict the pattern of a human life from the moment they are born, to who they will marry, if they marry, how many children they will have, what work they would accomplish and finally when they would die. No one knows but yet everyone seems to have an opinion on what a purposeful and fulfilled life would and should look like. Again, is life not enough?

                So, what is Life?

                The answer is up to you and that is the simple truth. Life is what you believe it to be even though it exists in the identity of its self-knowledge. To know Life is to know what it truly means and to live is to know what it means to you. In a recent research I have been working on, I have evaluated the age of maturity of a human being to be averagely 25 years: some people mature earlier, some later. In relation to this view point of understanding purpose, a person can only find out what purpose exists to their life when they have come to a point of full maturity. At this point, they can accept whatever vision of life they have built for themselves and find fulfillment in being that person. It becomes a lost cause when a person who is an orange, for example, believes himself to be a pineapple or even worse, an animal. An orange is a fruit, as we all know but do you know how long it takes for an orange fruit to bear its seed, have the seed planted, germinate and become a tree in itself? That is also the story of maturity. Now, if this orange believed itself to be a vegetable, say, lettuce, it would expect to produce its fruit and achieve maturity in just a few weeks and if it does not, being an orange, it could hit depression simply not knowing the purpose of its existence nor its productivity cycle.

                Simply put, we should be aware of who we are, what we are and why we are. To do this seems simple enough in theory but the practical translation to this in real life is one word: nurturing. When you grow something, either a child or a plant or an animal, the outcome of that process is as a direct result of what goes into that process. In the same way, finding your purpose as a Human being will only come to you from the process that you go through and your acceptance of it. If you nurturing was wrong, your destiny will be also and if your nurturing was as it should be, then you are on course to being who you are, regardless of what you think.

                As people, we are quick to try to prove our wit, understanding and grasp of our lives, including everything we are, have and would be. Life has different plans: it exists on its own plane and we either get the best out of our nurturing or consume everything, becoming nothing. The lesson here is this, Life will come with its ups and downs but in it is the very essential nutrients we need to become who we are to be. Who we are to be is the only point where we would be able to appreciate the life that we are. If you are out there looking for your purpose in life, the very reason you have life is the proof that your purpose came along in that package, all you have to do, is nurture it and when it grows, you will eventually become you: The you who is comfortable in your own skin and happy to exist in a world of complications, simply confident and grateful to be alive, for a long as you have it.

Good luck.